By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FAIRFIELD - As residents affected by June's flash floods grow more frustrated over the speed of the city's response, officials plan to apply this week for a federal grant to purchase some flood-prone homes.

State Rep. Gary Cates, R-West Chester Township, arranged a meeting among city officials and federal and Ohio Emergency Management Agency (EMA) leaders in Columbus.

Finalists for the grants will be notified in October, and the grants will be awarded in December, Cates told City Council Monday.

"If Fairfield isn't an ideal applicant, I would like to see the city that is," Cates said.

So far, the Butler County victims of the June 14-15 flooding that damaged more than 300 homes - 100 in Fairfield - have received almost $700,000 in federal and state financial assistance.

In June, several days of heavy rains caused the Great Miami River and a number of creeks to overflow. St. Clair Township, New Miami and Fairfield were among the hardest-hit areas in the county.

The flooding, which caused an estimated $1.5 million in damages in Fairfield, was the worst in the city since 1979, when 200 homes and businesses were damaged.

Over the past several years, Fairfield has spent millions to address flooding problems and now has strict development requirements for storm water control. After the June floods, City Council agreed to spend $173,000 for engineers to look into improving drainage and upgrading sewer lines.

But about a dozen residents affected by the floods complained to council they still are coping with problems from the flooding but aren't seeing quick-enough action from the city.

Tami Todd, co-chair of a citizens group called Fairfield Flood Victims 6/14, said a session the city held last Saturday for flood victims focused too much on sewage problems and not enough on their real concern: storm water management.

She urged council to begin earmarking money for storm water management. But some council members said they want to see the recommendations from a flood audit that consultants are preparing and should have ready by early next year.

"The city has spent $22 million trying to do all the things the engineers have told us to do," Mayor Erich Cook told Todd. "We are not uncaring."

In other city business, council held a first reading on an ordinance to hire an architectural firm to prepare a master plan for a $10 million justice center. The city's current jail on Ohio 4 has grown outdated and overcrowded.

The new site will be across the street from the Fairfield Municipal Building and Village Green at Pleasant Avenue and Wessel Drive. A former Kroger shopping plaza on that parcel is being demolished.

Plans call for a 45,000-square-foot justice center with about 20,000 more square feet available for future expansion.

The center will hold a state-of-the-art communications system and will rise on about 5 acres, leaving 3.5 acres for retail/business development.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com